According
to documents
submitted by the Beijing Public Security Bureau (PSB) to the Beijing
Municipal Procuratorate at the conclusion of the PSB's investigation,
detained activist and intellectual Liu Xiaobo should be charged with
"inciting subversion of state power" because he "drafted Charter 08
together with others, which is a major crime." This is the first time
Chinese authorities have officially labelled the drafting of this
political manifesto a "major crime."
(Source: Chinese Human Rights Defenders, 9 December 2009)
According
to documents
submitted by the Beijing Public Security Bureau (PSB) to the Beijing
Municipal Procuratorate at the conclusion of the PSB's investigation,
detained activist and intellectual Liu Xiaobo should be charged with
"inciting subversion of state power" because he "drafted Charter 08
together with others, which is a major crime." This is the first time
Chinese authorities have officially labelled the drafting of this
political manifesto a "major crime." Today marks the one-year
anniversary of the publication of Charter 08, and a number of activists
have been harassed by police and warned against organizing activities
to mark the occasion.

"The
choice of the phrase 'major crime' probably reflects the opinion of the
top leaders, and suggests they have reached a decision on how to
respond to Charter 08. Now that the act of drafting Charter 08 has
been decreed a 'major crime,' we are concerned that more people may
face arrest for their roles as drafters and signatories of Charter 08," said Chen Ming, an activist closely following the case.
Liu's case was transferred to the procuratorate on December 8.  The
next step is for the procuratorate to review Liu's case and decide
whether or not to initiate a prosecution, a procedure that can last as
long as six and a half months. In addition to mentioning Charter 08,
the police recommendation for prosecution also cited six articles
published by Liu in recent years.

The
crime of "inciting subversion of state power" is stipulated under
Article 105(2) of the Chinese Criminal Code. If convicted, Liu faces a
maximum of fifteen years of fixed-term imprisonment. In recent years,
activists convicted of "inciting subversion" have usually been
sentenced to less than five years of imprisonment. However, the same
article says that those "who commit major crimes shall be sentenced to
fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years."

In recent days, police targeted a number of prominent activists and
dissidents, seeking to keep them and Charter 08 out of the spotlight as
the one-year anniversary approached. For example: 

• A
  police car has been stationed outside of the home of Beijing activist
  Zhang Zuhua and police have kept him under surveillance since December
  1. Officers
  from the National Security Unit of the Beijing PSB have warned him not
  to give interviews, meet with others, or write articles about the
  anniversary, and threatened to imprison him if he does not comply. 
• Wen Kejian,
  a Hangzhou-based rights activist, was prevented from travelling to
  Beijing in the last week of November and questioned several times by
  police who told him that the days surrounding the anniversary were
  "sensitive" and he was not allowed to travel.
• Xi'an human rights lawyer and Charter 08 signatory Zhang
  Jiankang was summoned by National Security police on December 9 and
  interrogated
  for three hours about an event he helped organize on December 6 to
  commemorate the anniversary.
• On
  the afternoon of December 7, officials from the National Security Unit
  under the Hangzhou PSB arrived at the home of dissident Zhu Yufu and
  announced he was being placed under residential surveillance.  Zhu is
  only allowed to leave his home if escorted by police.
• Zhejiang human rights lawyer Zhuang Daohe was barred from leaving the mainland for Hong Kong by border guards at
  Shenzhen's Luohu border crossing on December 5. Officials did not give
  Zhuang a reason for the action, though it is suspected to be related to
  the anniversary.
• Chengdu democracy activist Chen Yunfei was taken away from his
  home by police on the afternoon of December 9.  His current whereabouts
  are unknown.
• Members of the Guizhou Human Rights Forum,
  a loose circle of activists who meet often to discuss human rights and
  distribute educational materials, have been under heavy pressure from
  local authorities seeking to stop them from carrying out planned
  activities to mark both the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of
  Human Rights on December 10 and the release of Charter 08 on December
  9.  Police stationed at a Guiyang Park prevented Forum members from
  holding a meeting on December 6, and activists Chen Xi, Liao Shuangyuan
  and Wu Yuqin have all been briefly detained and interrogated in recent
  weeks.

To read the complete statement, please click here (CHRD website).

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Also related:
3 March 2009, FORUM-ASIA, CHINA – A signatory of the Charter 08 remains under arrest
3 April 2009, FORUM-ASIA, CHINA – More than 143 interrogated for signing Charter 08